UPDATE: The Leafs used the least complicated option to bolster their situation up the middle, as they signed veteran center Jerred Smithson to a one year contract. The 34-year-old Smithson, who played 588 career NHL games and split time between Florida and Edmonton in 2013, was signed by the Toronto Marlies in mid-October to a tryout contract and scored one goal in seven games with the Leafs AHL affiliate.
Smithson is primarily a defensive forward, face-off specialist and penalty killer and is better suited for a fourth line center role than Trevor Smith, who was demoted to make room on the Leafs roster.
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While the concern over the loss of Dave Bolland and Tyler Bozak took a backseat to the “Crackhead” Rob Ford sideshow on Tuesday, the focus has returned to how the Leafs plan to make due over the next three to four weeks without two of their top centers.
Winger James van Riemsdyk played up the middle for the second time at Leafs practice Wednesday morning in Etobicoke, ON between Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul while rumors continue to swirl about GM Dave Nonis trying to bring in some forward depth.
A few possible clues of where the Leafs might be looking were in
Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts, which reported that Florida GM Dale Tallon promised to make changes to his struggling Panthers following their overtime loss to Edmonton on Tuesday. Friedman indicated that an e-mail was sent to league GM’s announcing the availability of veteran Florida players last week.
Rumors last month reported the Leafs having interest in defenseman Dmitri Kulikov, but with their recent injury situation, it is possible that Nonis could have interest in one of Florida’s inexpensive veteran forwards. Former Stanley Cup winner Scott Gomez is no longer a shadow of the player he was in New Jersey, but with only a $900,000 cap hit the 33 year old pivot could be an acceptable stop gap.
Speculation continues that Nonis is looking for a bigger deal to bring in a top six forward, but it is hard to see that happening in the wake of Toronto’s cap situation. For the Leafs to acquire a well salaried player, they would either have to trade a player or players in equivalent salary or dispose of a player to another team in a separate deal.
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In his Rumor Roundup in the Hockey News,
Lyle Richardson states that the best chip the Leafs have to get the forward help they need is to trade goaltender James Reimer, who will be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2013-14 season.
The struggling Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators are said to be interested if Reimer were available, but that another asset would have to be included to bring in a quality center.
Richardson also states that struggling Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier could be on the Leafs radar. The 20-year-old former first round pick has struggled since his solid rookie season as an 18 year old two years ago. Couturier scored only four goals in 46 games in the lockout shortened 2013 season and has just three assists in 14 games this season.
With Mark Fraser ready to return after missing a month with a knee injury, the Leafs have eight defensemen on their roster and Philadelphia is in need of an overhaul on their blueline. Veteran Kimmo Timonen is at the end of a great career, former Leaf Luke Schenn has been benched the last two games and is reportedly not a favorite of new Flyers coach Craig Berube and veterans Brayden Coburn and Andrej Meszaros have been rumored to be on the market since the summer.
Nonis has long stated his willingness to trade young assets if he is getting young assets back, which could make a blueliner like Jake Gardiner available in a deal for a young center like Couturier.
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